New York Ranks as Third Worst State for Speeding Tickets

New York State, famous for everything from Broadway to Buffalo wings, now has another claim to fame: Popular Mechanics has named New York the third worst state in the U.S. to get a speeding ticket in.

A quick look at the fines associated with speeding tickets will help highlight why NY ranks so high on this list.

• Court Fines
  • 6 point ticket: $393
  • 8 point ticket: $693
  • 11 point ticket: $693 and license suspension
• Driver Responsibility Assessment – a fee charged by the DMV for receiving 6 or more points on your license
  • 6 point ticket: $300
  • 8 point ticket: $450
  • 11 point ticket: $675 and license suspension
• Total Fines:
  • 6 point ticket: $693
  • 8 point ticket: $1,143
  • 11 point ticket: $1,368 & suspension
• Additional Fines
  • Traffic fines are doubled in work zones and school zones, thus increasing an already high penalty.

Traffic citations are on the rise not only in New York but nationally.  In order to raise much-needed revenue, states and their local governing bodies are forced to collect more funds.  Raising traffic fines and issuing more speeding tickets eliminates the difficulties associated with raising taxes, namely outrage from the taxpayers.  Passing the cost onto those that ‘deserve it’ is politically easier then raising taxes on their already strained citizens.

Besides raising revenue, increasing enforcement of traffic violations has another, less controversial, impact – saving lives. Speeding violations cause significant injury and death. Increasing enforcement of speeding and other traffic violations will, the theory goes, reduce speeding and careless behavior. This, in turn, will reduce accidents and injuries. Aside from the obvious value of preventing such accidents, reductions in accidents also saves costs of such things as healthcare and the costs of processing such incidents.

New York in particular has begun to take notice to the importance of safer roadways, and has introduced the Vision Zero Program. Among other things, this new program has installed traffic cameras in numerous locations, and lowered the speed limit on local roadways. Traffic cameras, while embroiled in controversy themselves, have issued thousands of tickets to unsuspecting motorists. Additionally, lower speed limits have likewise caught numerous drivers.

To put the Vision Zero Program in context, the NYPD issued 12,540 tickets in October of 2014.  This number is 36% higher then the same time period last year.  As we can therefore see, ticketing has drastically increased throughout New York.  Staten Island similarly increased tickets.

While New Jersey and Massachusetts proudly hold the top spots as ‘the worst states for speeding tickets,’ the Vision Zero program could very well propel NY to the coveted number one spot.

If you have been issued a speeding ticket in New York, we provide free consultations with our experienced and dedicated attorneys. Simply call Rosenblum Law at 888-434-0406 to get started.